Illuminated telephone-dial.



R. HALLOGK. ILLULHNATED TELEPHONE DIAL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18,1909.

Patented Dec. 154, 1909.

Q I Elnuenloq 151317455001 6 RUFUS B. HALLOCK, or PORTLAND, OREGON.

ILLUMINATED TELEPHONE-DIAL.

Application filed February 18, 1909. Serial N0.- 478,600.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUFUS B. HALLOCK citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county ofMultnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain/new and useful Improvements in I llniiiinated 'lelephone-Dials, of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprehendscertain new and useful improvements in telephones, and relates particularly to'telephonesof the automatic type.

The invention has for its primary object, meansfor illuminating the dials of either wall or desk telephones of this character, in

a simple manner which will possess positive advantages as well as the cluiracteristic' of easy :ulaptation with a minimum amount of labor and alteration, to automatic telephones that are already installed, and, in the cases of wall telephones, without the necessity of so much as removing the telephone instrument from the wall. 1 p

The invention also has for its object, an illuminated dial for a telephone instrument so arranged that the electric energy required to illuminate the dial be secured from a connection with the telephone current and not supplied by batteries, and whereby-a rearrangement and enlargement of the whole telephone instrument is rendered unneces sary, while the additional expense consequent upon their re-charging or replacing is entirely avoided. a

The inventionalso has for its object, an improved illuminating telephone dial wherein the light glows until cut otf'at will, which is a manifest advantage,in that it may be necessary to consult the telephone book to verify the number called, or 'to look upanother number, the light made by the dial being sufficient for this purpose,thereby distinguishing the inventionfrom the illuminated dials in which the light is extinguished when the call button is pressed. And the invention also has for iits object an illuminated dial, particulagly for wall or house telephones, which is composed of comparatively few parts that may be easily and cheaply applied to the. telephone, and to which access may be easily had for the pure pose of repair, or for renewing or replacing the lamp. I p

\Vith these and other objects in view as will more fully appear as the description Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.

proceedsylthe invent-ion consists in certain constructions, arrangements and combinations of. the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding ofthe invention and the merits thereof, and to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction,

reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which: i

Figure 1 is a face view'of the box of an automatic telephone instrument; Fig. 2 is a similar view with the dial removed; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional yiew; and

Fig. ff is a detail fragmentary section through the dial; 1

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followin description and indicated in all the views 0 the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referringto the drawings, wherein is illustrated a wall or-house telephone em-' bodying the improvements of my invention,

A designates the telephone instrument, and B the box face or door thereof, which latter constitutes the support for the dial C.

Th dial C is mounted at its center upon a pivot l which'may be in; the nature of a screw boltsecured at its inner end to the relativelystationary boss D that'is secured to and which forms a part of the telephone,

mechanism, which latter, as it forms no part of my present invention, 1s not shown or 7 described.

. to return the dial C to its place, after has been turned in the operation of securing a connection.

As best seen in Fig. 1, the dial C carries an indicator disk 2 which is usually constructed of celluloid or some other translucent substance, the said diskbeing provided with a series of segmental compartments 3 containing numerals or letters, or both, the said numerals or letters or combinations thereof being the calls. The dial C is provided in concentric relation to the indicating portion of the indicator disk 2 with a series of finger holes 4 registering with the respective indicator compartments 3. When the operator uses the telephone, his finger is placed in one of the finger holes 4, according to the number that is desired, and is pressed downwardly until the finger contacts with the stop 5, and the dial then being released, swings backwardly by the tension of its spring 13. This operation is repeated until the call has been secured, whereupon the call button 6 ispressed inwardly, and the desired party thereby automatically connected.

One of the disadvantages in the use of a telephone of this character, resides in the fact that with these telephones as ordinarily constructed, it is necessary to employ an independent light so that the letters or numerals onrthe indicator disk maybe seen. To avoid the necessity of such a light, in carrying out my invention, I merely enlarge the mortise 7 to form a recess 7 which need not extend entirely through the door or face B, and which is of sufficient size to accommodate a small incandescent lamp 8, as,

shown. It should be remarked that the mortise 7 is primarily designed for the dial-reing them by the screw or pivot 1, a circular reflector 12 is slipped over the front end of the bushing D so as to cover the front of the spring and serve to intensify the light which shines from the lamp 8 through the translucent indicator disk 2. The leads 9 of the lamp 8 are so connected to the supply leads for the speech transmission and other currents as to do away entirely with the necessity of separate batteries for the lamp. One of the lamp leads is provided with a switch 10 which is operated from outside of the case of the instrument, and which may be opened and closed at will, remaining closed as long as desired, entirely independent of the receiver hook or other accessories of the instrument. The said hook, transmitter and bells are not shown in the accompanying drawing, as they form no part of the present invention.

As clearly illustrated in the drawings, the dial C is formed with a curved slot 11 which registers with the indicator portion of the disk 2 and with the recess 7*, so that the light from the lamp 8 may continuously shine through the translucent disk and illuminate the call numbers or letters, at the same time providing means for reading the telephone book, or for similar purposes apply the lamp 8 and wire the same. Oo-

viously, in'the case of a desk telephone, it is only necessary forthe purpose of incorporating my improvements, to increase the dqpth of the drum .or casing, as for instance, by applying a supplemental collar. It is also necessary to form a curved slot in the. dial C immediately back of the characters on the disk 2.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. The combination ofa telephone instru ment of the automatic type, the instrument being provided with a dial, of a lamp, 8. support therefor, said support being formed with a mortise in which the lamp is located, and the dial being formed with a slot in registry with said mortise, and means for supplying said lamp with current.

2. The combination with atelephone instrument of the automatic type, the same being provided with a dial," and a translucent indicator disk, of a lamp mounted in the instrument and designed to shine through the dial, the instrument beingprovided with a recess in which SSlidlfliliPfliSdOCfitBd, means for supplying the lam with current, and a reflector mounted wit in and desi ned to cover the rear side of said recess bac of the lamp.

3. The combination with a telephone instrument of the automatic type, the same being provided with a dial and a translucent indicator disk, the instrument being also formed with a mortise, of a boss located centrally of the mortise at the rear side thereof, a spring secured to said boss and arranged to return the dial to normal position, a reflector disk secured to said boss in front of the spring, and a lamp interposed betweenv tlhe1 reflector disk and the rear face of the c 1a In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RUF US 13. HALLOCK. [14. 5.] \Vitnesses:

J. Hnnsn HENSELMAN, CLAUDE M. JOHNS. 

